Google unveils Translate for Animals Android app

Yes of course it was a hoax. Look at the date. You can actually download the app though - and the video is definitely worth a chuckle or two

Google has unveiled its Translate for Animals application for Android – allowing the search giant to 'encourage greater interaction and understanding between animal and human'.

The incredible Google Translate for Animals application, which is available now, allows you to select the animal from a menu and then translate their noises into human language.

"Making the world's information universally accessible is a key goal for Google. Language is one of the biggest challenges we have in this area, so for the past year we have been targeting our efforts on removing language barriers between the species," explains Google.

Exciting

"We are excited to introduce Translate for Animals, an Android application which we hope will allow us to better understand our animal friends.

"We've always been a pet-friendly company at Google, and we hope that Translate for Animals encourages greater interaction and understanding between animal and human."

The application will be available on Google's Android operating system, allowing you to finally find out what your dog, cat or even chicken is saying to you.

"Built on the Android mobile operating system, Translate for Animals is an application for your phone that recognises and transcribes common words and phrases that are common to a species, like cats, for example," adds Google.

"To develop Translate for Animals, we worked closely with many of the world's top language synthesis teams, and with leaders in the field of animal cognitive linguistics, including senior fellows at the Bodleian Library in Oxford."

Hugh Liddle, engineer on Translate for Animals, told TechRadar: "People spend a lot of time with their animals - in many cases, years of daily interaction.

"In line with Google's goal to open up access to information, our mission on the Translate for Animals team is to make that information available across languages.

"During the course of product development, we realised that understanding Fido or Lassie is an age-old problem that our technology could plausibly solve."

Google Translate for Animals is available now from www.google.co.uk/translateforanimals